June 2015: Trip to Madrid, Seville and Córdoba!

Hey guys! I know I’ve left this blog a bit lonely for some time… I apologize. But the good news is… I’m starting a new section! As I’ve been travelling quite a lot this year and have blogged about the trips, I am going to create a new tag under which you can find my travel blog posts: AroundtheWorld. So, here is a brand new addition to it.

I hadn’t been to Seville since I was a kid, so it was time I paid my family there a visit. Dad wanted to visit an exhibition in Madrid about Art Déco, so what better opportunity? We’d go to Madrid for a couple of days in our way to Seville and also spend one of the days in Córdoba, because I really wanted to visit the Mosque.

On Monday the 22^nd we got up insanely early and Mum drove us both to Los Rodeos. We hopped on the first flight to Madrid at eight o’clock. I’ve literally travelled so much this year that taking a plane has become something normal for me now, I mean, I have to take one every time I come home! The flight was relaxed, I slept most of the time but also watched Orphan Black. Once in Madrid, Jose picked us up and took us to their house. Oli, one of my friends from Madrid, was unaware that I was coming, so it was an absolute surprise when she knocked on the door and it was me who opened! She was flabbergasted! I then accompanied her to her school because she wanted to speak with some teachers and pick up her marks from her entry to Uni exam. There I met a couple of her friends, with whom we went to Vips to have lunch. After lunch, Oli’s family picked us up and we drove to the dogs’ home, to adopt a new dog. After a lot of thinking, they adopted a new black and brown puppy that will grow up to be a medium-sized dog apparently. She is so sweet and cute! But as a baby, it has to be trained! The poor thing had to wait a whole day before her owners settled on a name: Tula! That night we just stayed in because I was really tired. We played (and I ruled) some Scrabble before having dinner and going to bed.

On Tuesday we went to the Juan March foundation with Jose to see the exhibition: El gusto moderno. Art déco en París, 1910-1935. It was a fairly small but really diverse exhibition; I really enjoyed it, especially the designs for ballet costumes and the dresses. I did some doodling since photos were not allowed, the invigilator stared at me like saying “I really want to tell you off, but I can’t!” Yeah, eat that! I can draw! We then walked around Sol and went to the FNAC, where they spent ages on the disc section… I really wanted to try out some discs, but all the machines were broken -.- We had lunch at Los Rotos, after wandering through various streets searching for the place. It was good, we had huevos rotos which are chips, mixed with stirred fried egg and another ingredient of your choosing, I chose fish. After lunch Oli joined us so we both went window shopping for a bit and then I met with Begoña. It was good to see her again, we went for a walk under the killing sun (we saw the Royal Palace, the Quijote statue, the Gran Vía…) and then sat and had a coke together in one of the back streets of Sol. It was very strange to meet her in Madrid though, so out of context! I took the metro back to Oli’s house, barely avoiding the Summer storm and lighting before getting safely home.

On Wednesday we were to take the AVE (Spanish high-speed train) from Atocha to Santa Justa, in Seville. Jose drove us to the station and we took the 10am train. It was good to see the Spanish landscape for once, which is the only thing I don’t like about planes. Road trips and trains allow you to glimpse what is in between your destination and point of departure, and sometimes it is worth investing more time in the journey than getting there earlier and not experiencing what is in the middle. We saw tons of orchards and factories and small villages. Typical Spanish ones. It was cute. I also slept for a bit and read my driving manual (it’s taking me aaaaages!). Once in Seville, we took a taxi to Mary Francis’ house, where we stayed. She lives in Avenida República Argentina, which is amazingly centric. The heat was unbearable though. We arrived in the middle of a heat wave, meaning that temperatures were constantly over 35ºC, reaching even 43 during the hotter hours of the day. We spent most of the time inside with the AC, what was a bit disappointing and frustrating. I slept a lot during that time spent inside, but I got frustrated because I was in a new place with no possibility of exploring it unless it was very early in the morning or very late at night… But the heat was too dangerous so I could not do anything about it… Anyway, once we got to the house, we had lunch (salmorejo, salmorejo, and more salmorejo all week) and took a nap. That evening Dad and I went out for a little walk around Triana and also bought a couple of presents for the little cousins. We had dinner with the older cousins before going to sleep. We were so tired!

On Thursday we lazily got up early and went to the Reales Alcázares aka the Water Gardens of Dorne. Yup, the place where they filmed part of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It was so cool to see the places in real life, the camera can do wonders! We had no trouble getting in and avoided the queue (those student discounts are glorious), and wandered around for a couple of hours. The Islamic art is utterly beautiful and so detailed! 

After that we walked towards the city centre: the Cathedral, the Town Hall, Sierpes… We had the tastiest ice-cream ever at Helados de la Abuela and then went back home for lunch. After a short nap I flicked through all the leaflets about the city that I had, so I could figure out what I wanted to visit, and then in the afternoon I went as a solo tourist around the city. I walked soooo much, and it was still pretty hot, but I love to go out and about on my own, it allows me to go at my own pace! I visited tons of places: the Hospital de la Caridad, Plaza de Toros, Tetuán and Sierpes – the shopping streets where I also encountered a thief prosecution and got a nice bubble iced tea-, the outside of the Alcázar and the Cathedral again, a hotel I apparently confused with the University, the Guadalquivir, the Parque de María Luisa in which I visited the Plaza de España – including climbing the buildings to get a really awesome view of the square- and the statue in memory of Bécquer. That night we had another family dinner, this time from a freiduría – a place specialized in fried fish. The South of Spain is known for them, apart from flamenco and sangría. And myself, a fish-lover, couldn’t put any objections to the choice of food… it was amazing!

On Friday we went to Córdoba. We got the Avant train and then a taxi to the Mosque. It was bloody hot. Like, over 40ºC. I was really excited about seeing the Mosque in person for the first time, as I had to study the building for Art History class. However, it let me down. Not the building itself, but what the Church has done to it. I’ve ranted so much about this already… First, the entrance to the Mosque – now not called the Mosque of Córdoba, but the Cathedral- is over eight euros, no reduction for anyone. The building can be closed for catholic events whenever they want and they have sabotaged the Moorish heritage of the building: covering up the minaret, closing up the maqsura and mihrab with a fence, changing the ceiling and, worst of all, creating a fricking Renaissance cathedral inside the Mosque. I just can’t deal with the destruction… And the worst part is that there is no acknowledgement whatsoever of the Muslim heritage. For them, it has always been a bloody Cathedral. Great. Denying the origins, now that is an intelligent idea. 

Anyway, after that disaster, we crossed the bridge under the blazing sun to reach the Torre de Calahorra only to find out it was closed. And the lady at the tourism office had said “oh, yes yes, there is a very nice museum inside”. Top information, miss, you didn’t even know it was being reformed! 

We then went back and walked around the Judería. We visited the oldest Synagogue left in Spain, which is a teeny tiny one, and then the House of Sefarat Museum about the life of Sephardic Jews in Spain at the time, really interesting. The heat – la caló – was unbearable. We stopped to have lunch at Casa Salinas: salmorejo and flamenquín for Dad, and the most amazing fried aubergines with honey for me, and also some puntillitas. It was the best thing of the day I think, because then we attempted to walk a bit more but the heat was such that we just decided to leave. You know, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. We changed our train tickets and returned to Seville.

On Saturday morning I slept in. I really deserved it, I was so tired! Dad and I then ventured into the melting heat and headed to the Cathedral. We went inside and walked all of the massive building. It was gigantic! And even had some random hidden chapels of different styles, which were my favourite. After lunch we relaxed for a bit: caught up on YouTube, read, slept,… At eight in the evening Dad and I went to Parque de María Luisa again, but this time to see the Pavilions because I hadn’t had time to go there during my solo touristy trip. They were so pretty! I loved the park. We also saw the pigeons I used to feed when I was a little kid, and had some ice-cream. That night we had another family dinner and packed our suitcases because we were leaving the next day.

As I said, Sunday was our last day in Seville. We got everything ready, loaded the car, and drove to the house in Valencina, in the countryside. It has a pool so it was perfect.  Ricardo and his family joined us there so we basically spent the day in the pool or sleeping and chilling inside the house. They then drove us to the airport and said good-bye. Our flight got delayed for over an hour, which was really annoying, but it eventually took off. I watched Penny Dreadful during the flight, quite an eerie TV show… Once home, we took a shower, unpacked and went to bed.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and the pictures with it. Seville is a beautiful city and, despite the heat, I really do think it is one of the prettiest cities in Spain xx